13 Women: Parables from Prison - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1553651421 ISBN 13: 9781553651420

Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006

Synopsis

However their stories differ in the details, all of the women in this book speak about their time in prison with eloquence and admirable candor. Some have spent most of their lives behind bars; for others, prison was a one-time experience. Most were incarcerated for offences related to drugs and theft. Several were involved in violent crimes. Three Betty Krawczyk, Ann Hansen, and Christine Lamont did time for political activities that received international media attention. Their stories belie any stereotype about the type of woman who ends up in jail. Each account is a parable of life’s fragility, a cautionary tale of how easily anyone can meet with harm or be led astray. While relaying stories of courage, resiliency, and hope, the editors raise provocative questions about personal accountability, the meaning of justice, the state’s uses and abuses of power, and the broad social challenges women face.

About this title

About the Author:

Karlene Faith is Professor Emerita with the School of Criminology and an associate faculty member with Womens Studies at Simon Fraser University. She is the author of many articles and books, including Unruly Women: The Politics of Confinement & Resistance, which won the VanCity Book Prize in 1994. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

From Publishers Weekly:

Imprisoned women are among the least heard and seen in our society, often invisible even before their incarceration. In this volume, activist scholars Faith and Near allow these women to speak for themselves (though the authors make their own political views clear through their commentary). Convicted on charges of fraud, drug possession or domestic violence, each woman speaks honestly of her crime but more of her experience in prison: the friendships and rivalries, the meaningless labor, the educational, religious and informal groups that have given them hope. Faith's interviews span 30 years, though most of the stories here come from the 1970s and '80s. Those looking for a current report from the front lines of women's incarceration systems won't find it here, and a chapter on the cruelties visited on Native American women, inside and outside of prison, seems especially misplaced. Quibbles aside, readers interested to encounter the deeply honest, uncensored voices of those who are so rarely heard will be more than satisfied.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1553651421
• ISBN 13: 9781553651420
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Faith Karlene